Reference number: CH001011

What can I do if my computer or laptop was stolen or lost?

Question:

What can I do if my computer or laptop was stolen or lost?

Answer:

Contact authorities

Anytime you've been a victim of a crime that incident should be reported to the authorities. Often if you plan on claiming the stolen computer for insurance you'll need to have already filed a report so doing it immediately after the crime will save you time in the future.

Home: If your house was recently burglarized you should immediately contact the local authorities so a report can be created and so if in the future your computer is found it can be returned.

Office: If you believe a fellow employee has stolen your computer immediately contact human resources or a superior. If company confidential information is on the computer that should also be brought up.

School: If your computer has been taken while you were in school talk to your teacher, principle, lost and found, school officer, or other employee of the school that can assist you in reporting the incident.

Other public location: If your computer was taken while at a public location such as an air port, bus, coffee shop, gas station, library, taxi cab, etc. report the incident to a superior employee. Often you'll need to file an incident report with the police.

Protect yourself

Before worrying about getting the computer or laptop back you should first protect yourself if you're on the Internet by doing the below steps. These steps will require you get access to a computer so visit a friend, neighbor, relative, school, library, work, or somewhere you can get a computer with Internet access.

1. Log into any sensitive accounts (e.g. bank accounts, online e-mail, PayPal, eBay, iTunes, IM, etc.) and change your password incase that information was saved on your other computer.
2. If you have any other sensitive information on your computer such as bank pin number, bills, credit card information, cell phone, etc. that could be used by a thief make sure to contact the company in charge of your accounts and see if the account can be changed, flagged and/or monitored.
3. Contact your computer manufacturer so they can make a note in their database that the computer has been stolen incase the thief tries calling support.
4. Learn more about identity theft now that the likely hood of you becoming a victim has increased.
5. If your computer had company confidential information, government related information, stored personal information of other people you should notify your employer immediately.

Trying to get it back

Before getting your computer or laptop back you'll need to have the serial number and/or model number before it can be identified. If you do not have records of this information contact the manufacturer to see if they can provide you with this information.

1. As mentioned above make sure to notify the authorities, employees, lost and found, etc. with your report of a lost computer. Often if your computer is found they'll need to know how to contact you.
2. Leave some not so sensitive accounts such as your Instant Messenger, distributed systems, YouTube account, Flickr account, MySpace account, etc. open and watch the pages for activities. In some situations the thief may use the account because it automatically logs into the page. This information could be used to help identify the person.
3. Visit local pawn shops and watch the local paper want ads for a few weeks to see if the thief is trying to pawn it off.
4. Place an article in the want ads with your computer description and serial number and mention a reward for returning your lost computer.
5. Visit online sites such as http://www.stolencomputers.org/ and/or if you're in Europe the E.R.E.S.C. that are dedicated to listing and finding stolen computers.

Additional information:

• Steps on what you can do to help prevent theft or making it less painful can be found on document CH001012.